Drone Operator Tased By Ranger In National Park

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Pro Tip: If you are operating a drone in a national park, and a ranger has to tell you to stop, a tasering is soon to follow.

"A guy approached me in the dark and said, 'Bring it down!' and he was very angry. I had no idea he was a ranger. He sounded very angry, confrontational -- like he wanted to fight -- and I didn't really want to stick around for it so I just told him, 'I don't have ID and I'm leaving'," described Sanders.
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lcpiper said:
Best to ask someone who they are first.
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According to a witness:

Danielle Spain: I was right there heard the conversation when the park ranger identified himself and asked the man to bring the drone in... The man argued with the park ranger and asked us in the crowd if we minded we all said yes we do... The man escalated with the ranger and the. The man took off... Given the situation I believe the park ranger acted in the best interest of public safety and I was grateful the park ranger was there
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Did the ranger identify himself? Doesn't sound like it. Fail on the ranger part.

Also, the rules that the RC is allowed in the park aren't posted, just on the website. Fail on the park dept.

Still, the guy probably should have known. I don't own an RC plane, and I know they aren't allowed in national parks...
 
Steve said:
According to a witness:
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I wouldn't be surprised if it was the exact opposite of what this "witness" said. Same with the guy who got tased. Can never trust people's description of events for crap like this. So unreliable.
 
Converge said:
I wouldn't be surprised if it was the exact opposite of what this "witness" said. Same with the guy who got tased. Can never trust people's description of events for crap like this. So unreliable.
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Same with the news. Just changing the headline and leaving out some witness reports will totally change how people view the event.
 
Hmmmm, not sure the incident warranted a tasing. I mean, if the guy was destroying park property and they were trying to arrest him, sure if he resists, but for being an annoying butt hole?
 
Ur_Mom said:
Did the ranger identify himself? Doesn't sound like it. Fail on the ranger part.

Also, the rules that the RC is allowed in the park aren't posted, just on the website. Fail on the park dept.

Still, the guy probably should have known. I don't own an RC plane, and I know they aren't allowed in national parks...
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This is why when they first started coming out i decided i wasn't going ot get one. Ill be the jerk who gets tasered because a rent-a-cop gets mouthy. THE rage people feel at these things is insane.
 
Ur_Mom said:
Did the ranger identify himself? Doesn't sound like it. Fail on the ranger part.

Also, the rules that the RC is allowed in the park aren't posted, just on the website. Fail on the park dept.

Still, the guy probably should have known. I don't own an RC plane, and I know they aren't allowed in national parks...
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I'm sure Steve was posting at the same time but yea. Looks like the Ranger did ID himself, this fool argued with him. Then ran from him which usually seems to happen right about the time the Ranger/Cop has decided he's had enough of the fool and is going to arrest him.

And we both know that Ignorance of the Law is not an excuse.

Looks like the guy isn't as sharp as you are
 
ViperGrendal said:
Hmmmm, not sure the incident warranted a tasing. I mean, if the guy was destroying park property and they were trying to arrest him, sure if he resists, but for being an annoying butt hole?
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He wasn't tased for being an annoying butthole. He was tased for acting in an unsafe manner.

This dude is standing close to the precipice of an active volcano, at night, and starts running. Coulda knocked someone down, caused someone to fall. The taser stopped all that nonsense real quick.
 
lcpiper said:
LOL< how about you read the article or enough other posts so you understand that the Ranger may still be a dumbass, but he did ID himself.
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I did read the article and read through the thread.
No where does it say the ranger identified himself.

If you see something I missed, please quote where it said the ranger identified himself.
 
lcpiper said:
And we both know that Ignorance of the Law is not an excuse.
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It was a pretty big deal last year when they passed those laws. Not only that, when I get something, I tend to do research. That would come up.

Kind of like if you're going to carry a weapon concealed, you learn the laws of where you're carrying.
 
lcpiper said:
Maybe, but the article says this park has used their tasers less then 5 times since they got them in 2008.
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Was that really the lesson? If you missed it, the judge ruled that the ranger just can't taser someone because they're frustrated. It's unlawful and cost the feds $50,000 + lawyer time + court costs to settle.

And tasered over a 3" micro drone that flies for a couple of minutes at a time? It's basically the same situation. If a warning isn't working, write the idiot a ticket and move on.

The strict authoritarian nonsense often posted here doesn't really make sense to me.
 
DocSavage said:
Same with the news. Just changing the headline and leaving out some witness reports will totally change how people view the event.
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Well the guy said he didn't know he was a ranger, but then says he said "I don't have ID" which isn't something you would expect anyone to say to any random non law enforcement officer that walks up to them.
 
pxc said:
Was that really the lesson? If you missed it, the judge ruled that the ranger just can't taser someone because they're frustrated. It's unlawful and cost the feds $50,000 + lawyer time + court costs to settle.

And tasered over a 3" micro drone that flies for a couple of minutes at a time? It's basically the same situation. If a warning isn't working, write the idiot a ticket and move on.

The strict authoritarian nonsense often posted here doesn't really make sense to me.
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That's kind of disappointing that it's not lawful to zap someone who's evading arrest. It's not like it does anything bad to someone except stop them from resisting or running off and it throws away the point of even having non-lethal ways of incapacitating someone. This societal sense of entitlement is getting way out of hand and we really need to address what's fundamentally wrong with people doing whatever they want and feeling like there shouldn't be any consequences or that they don't have to respond to legitimate concerns of a law enforcement officer. Society is broken and it's because average citizens have made it abundantly clear that they don't have the ability to act reasonably or responsibly. It's no surprise that those same kinds of people are objecting about those who are more intellectual and educated than them taking action to attempt to keep order for their own benefit while they rage out of control and then have the nerve to get upset about perfectly legitimate, non-violent consequences.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
That's kind of disappointing that it's not lawful to zap someone who's evading arrest. It's not like it does anything bad to someone except stop them from resisting or running off and it throws away the point of even having non-lethal ways of incapacitating someone. This societal sense of entitlement is getting way out of hand and we really need to address what's fundamentally wrong with people doing whatever they want and feeling like there shouldn't be any consequences or that they don't have to respond to legitimate concerns of a law enforcement officer. Society is broken and it's because average citizens have made it abundantly clear that they don't have the ability to act reasonably or responsibly. It's no surprise that those same kinds of people are objecting about those who are more intellectual and educated than them taking action to attempt to keep order for their own benefit while they rage out of control and then have the nerve to get upset about perfectly legitimate, non-violent consequences.
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It was NEVER intended to be a cattle prod. It was supposed to ONLY ever be used in place of shooting someone.
 
pxc said:
Was that really the lesson? If you missed it, the judge ruled that the ranger just can't taser someone because they're frustrated. It's unlawful and cost the feds $50,000 + lawyer time + court costs to settle.

And tasered over a 3" micro drone that flies for a couple of minutes at a time? It's basically the same situation. If a warning isn't working, write the idiot a ticket and move on.

The strict authoritarian nonsense often posted here doesn't really make sense to me.
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Okay, in a dangerous environment (like around a VOLCANO), you don't simply "move on". You insure compliance to the authority for reasons of safety.

Going "here's a ticket" and walking away while he's still practicing unsafe behavior is a dereliction of duty.
 
Spire3660 said:
It was NEVER intended to be a cattle prod. It was supposed to ONLY ever be used in place of shooting someone.
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Yes, I agree with the intention, but what's the alternative to getting control over some nutcase with a RC toy running around putting people at risk of falling into a volcano? The ranger could have hit him with a stick or shoot him, I guess, but I think that zapping him to stop him from rampaging was the best possible option given the circumstances and the danger he posed to the safety of others.
 
lcpiper said:
LOL< how about you read the article or enough other posts so you understand that the Ranger may still be a dumbass, but he did ID himself.
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Feel free to admit you're wrong at any time.
I'll be waiting, LOL.
 
DocSavage said:
Wouldn't it be the 4th post in this thread where Steve quotes a bystander who says the ranger identified himself first thing?
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Damn you, don't ruin this moment for me.
I almost had him in my icy grip of revenge! :eek: :D
 
Spire3660 said:
It was NEVER intended to be a cattle prod. It was supposed to ONLY ever be used in place of shooting someone.
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Actually it was a replacement for a nightstick because the bleeding hearts were all a twitter or criminals resisting arrest being stuck by a nightstick, so police switched to the taser, at the demand of many of the same people and groups who now complain about tasers.
 
Steve said:
According to a witness: Danielle Spain: I was right there heard the conversation when the park ranger identified himself and asked the man to bring the drone in... The man argued with the park ranger and asked us in the crowd if we minded we all said yes we do... The man escalated with the ranger and the. The man took off... Given the situation I believe the park ranger acted in the best interest of public safety and I was grateful the park ranger was there
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According to the operators' mother:

Janet Turpin Sanders: This is my son who was with his family at the volcano. He was flying his toy helicopter when this stranger started yelling at him. My son grabbed his copter to bring it back to his car and to get away from this idiot tourist who happened to be the park ranger. It was dark and the guy didn't identify himself to my son but kept shinning the flashlight in his eyes demanding to see his ID. My son wasn't carrying his ID and said he didn't have it. That made this guy mad and he tased him. I can't believe this was warranted at all. This ranger was way out of line for sure.
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Another commenter points out:
Witnesses say the park ranger was very polite and actually did identify hmself.
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To which the mother replies:

I think there were 2 park rangers....one may have identified himself and was really nice and even asked him politely to do something which he did. It was this other ranger that came along and got the whole thing escalating with his power trip.
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It doesn't sound like anyone is really giving us the whole story, but I would personally think there would be better ways to resolve this than to resort to using a taser. If this guy had been asked to leave and escorted out of the park in a polite and professional manner we wouldn't be reading a news article about it.
 
>Can't fly a drone in public

America. Amazing country. Go from fighting against the British because we're scared to fighting themselves scared of having their picture taken in public.

Fucking incredible.
 
DocSavage said:
Tasers can be dangerous. Some kid here in Kansas City, who incidentally was the son of an officer, was tazed, ended up in a coma, and apparently has brain damage from a tazing: http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/...ed-brain-damage-from-cop-taser-shot/20965187/
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They can be dangerous, but that kid had an earring for one and the other thing is that even with the coma thing, it's a lot less bad than it would have been if the police officer would have had to shoot him instead or hit him over and over again with that stick thing they carry. Maybe he should have used pepper spray instead though. I'm all for that stuff because it really can do a good job as long as the person is drugged up on narcotics (and that kid smelled like he was smoking weed so it's likely he was drugged up so the nerve control thing from electricity was probably the right decision to make).
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
That's kind of disappointing that it's not lawful to zap someone who's evading arrest. It's not like it does anything bad to someone except stop them from resisting or running off and it throws away the point of even having non-lethal ways of incapacitating someone.
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I thought it was legal, at least HPD does it all the time. A buddy of mine I knew from the Corvette G2Gs showed us the hole and barb from the taser that got stuck. The back bumper on C5s is really thin for lightness, and some hood rat was running from cops so they shot at him with a taser and missed, lol!

And its kinda necessary. If you've seen HPD get together at lunch time at any of the popular BBQ places, you can see most of them are BIG boys aren't exactly going to be moving fast over long distances hah!

such_fat_cops_640_01.jpg
 
pxc said:
Was that really the lesson? If you missed it, the judge ruled that the ranger just can't taser someone because they're frustrated. It's unlawful and cost the feds $50,000 + lawyer time + court costs to settle.

And tasered over a 3" micro drone that flies for a couple of minutes at a time? It's basically the same situation. If a warning isn't working, write the idiot a ticket and move on.

The strict authoritarian nonsense often posted here doesn't really make sense to me.
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What Judge? What ruling? Dude, this just happened, it was only posted two days ago in the news.

I never said the Ranger was frustrated, they guy disobeyed and chances are was going to be arrested when he took off running, and that's when the Taser came out.
 
Spire3660 said:
It was NEVER intended to be a cattle prod. It was supposed to ONLY ever be used in place of shooting someone.
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Right, and you read that where?

If you have somehow missed it I'll clue you in.

First, in this case, a cop/ranger is going to ask you to stop doing something that's illegal. If a person is smart he will obey first because if you disobey your sure to get a ticket, a fine, or be arrested. Now if you continue to challenge the officer and He abrubptly changes his tone and begins to order you around, it's because he is now in the process of arresting you. From that instant on, if you miss the signs and resist, the officer is going to begin using force as neccessary.
 
Seems like the type of guy who would have gone "don't tase me bro!!" but alas I did not hear it.

That said, he obviously tried to run away from the officer, I'm not sure how "dangerous" it was, while yeah it was a live volcano I'm not quite sure how close they allow visitors to get to the dangerous parts if for anything because there's bound to be some retard who climbs a fence or railing just to get a closer shot and ends up turning into a hotdog that rolled into the campfire.

Either way, this is one of those things where even though excessive force may have been used (I'm not going to argue one way or the other) maybe people should fucking comply when some sort of police officer (or park ranger) tells you to stop... but oh no... I can out run them and not get a ticket... then I get hurt, and if I get hurt people might riot, and it might end up costing millions in over time, lawyers, damages to locals, all because you didn't want a fucking ticket.
 
so tazing a white man is excessive force?

what's shooting a black man in the back?

i'm gonna start claiming transracial so i can claim i'm a white man when confronted by cops.
 
It's like many of the taser videos on youtube. It starts with the cop approaching someone initiating the contact. Then the whole "Do you know why i stopped you bit". Somewhere along the line the person starts ignoring what the cops tells them to do. For instance, they get out of their car and when told to get back in the car they ignore the direction and keep running their mouth. Whatever it is they are not listening to the cop. At some point, and it's usually easy to spot in the video, the cop switches gears and you can tell, He just made up his mind, He's going to arrest this person. Usually it's prefaced by the words "I am placing you under arrest". From that point on if you run, try to get back in your car, continue to argue, if you resist when He grabs you, you have just made your immediate future very unpleasant.

Most people don't think well at this point, but being arrested is the smallest of problems at this point. A Judge could pitch the case, you never know. Arrest precedes charges, arraignment, and a trial, it doesn't necessitate them. But resisting that officer can easily add on other charges that become very hard to beat in court and frequently are far worse then the original issue the cop stopped you for.

Most of you guys don't need to be told this stuff, but I suspect there are a few that still do.
 
JiveMofo said:
so tazing a white man is excessive force?

what's shooting a black man in the back?
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I think that's the real disappointment here, that a guy flying a 3" toy quadrocopter wasn't summarily executed by the authoritah for "not listening".
 
JiveMofo said:
so tazing a white man is excessive force?

what's shooting a black man in the back?

i'm gonna start claiming transracial so i can claim i'm a white man when confronted by cops.
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I think you hit upon something that might not be so obvious. If we go on the theory that police are expanding their use of force to obtain compliance...eventually it should hit "general population" (e.g. whitey). I think there are two powder kegs filling right now. The first one is always going boom....but the second one is on its way and it is much bigger. If it gets to that point..that is when shit will really get real.
 
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